Culdcept the First - Xbox Review

Culdcept the First by developer and publisher City Connection—Microsoft Xbox Series X review written by Nick with a copy provided by the publisher.

Estimated reading time: 7 minutes

Culdcept the First (also attributed as Culdcept the First Saturn Tribute) is a very fun game, that does show its age. This is basically a re-issue of the 1997 Sega Saturn game that mashes together deckbuilding (think Magic: The Gathering) and boardgames (such as Monopoly). While there’s quite a few deckbuilder / boardgame hybrids out today, Culdcept the First was quite a pioneer back then. Does that warrant a release today? I think so, but it is worth noting that this is more of a re-release than a remaster or remake – but still one that I’ve been having a lot of fun with.

I didn’t have a Saturn back in the day, but my best friend did. As such, my exposure to games released on it was limited to what he bought. I never played this title – in fact, I didn’t even hear of it (though in fairness, it never got a Western release). My first exposure to the series actually started on the Xbox 360 (which I reviewed way back in 2011, if you’re interested). The series was dormant for several years, until it got a 3DS game in 2017 (you can see our review here) and then a couple of months ago we got to try out Culdcept Begins for the Switch (review here, if you’re click-happy). It’s fantastic to see the series getting some fresh releases and new eyes on it, because the mix of boardgame and deckbuilding is really addictive, and it all began with our review at hand in Culdcept the First.

Now as I mentioned, this isn’t a remake. This Saturn Tribute is presented in 4:3 aspect ratio, with visuals that are charming in design if pixelated by the nature of its release. It’s a port of the original game, but there are a handful of quality-of-life improvements such as rewind and quick save that feel essential by today’s standards and are quite welcome. Especially the quick save, frankly. I just don’t have those long, school-less summer days to burn through a title from start to finish the way I used to. 

That ties into what’s bound to be one of the most controversial aspects of Culdcept the First’s gameplay: its pacing. This is a slow game. Sure, the same could be said about its more recently released iterations as well, but it’s especially true here, where rounds can easily surpass an hour (or in later stages on more complicated boards, two hours). Given that you will lose as well (after all, strategy is important, but in true boardgame fashion – there’s a whole lot of random you have to contend with as well), and I have no doubt some players will find that frustrating. Some players might even feel like they ‘wasted their time’ in this age of perpetual progress in a game. However, the continual addition to your deck proves progression that I find very appealing. It’s a fun gameplay loop, even if it’s a slow one.

As for the gameplay itself? The core is in moving around a board, building up your resources that you can also spend to improve your areas. Rather like a game of Monopoly, you need to spend money to make money. You land on territories, improve them, and hope your opponents land on them so you can break their finances while improving your own situation. The goal is to complete a lap having exceeded the target value for that stage. 

This constant seesaw of ‘now I have money’ followed by ‘now I don’t’ is precisely why a single session can be such a time commitment. It’s not going to be for everyone, but boy does it strike a nice balance for me personally, and should appeal to others who enjoy boardgames with friends and family. In some ways, Culdcept the First respects your time in that sense, because you don’t have to set up the board, count out the pieces, manage the money or suffer through that pesky notion of finding actual people to play with, because you have a story with AI opponents ever at the ready here.

If anything, that highlights one of this title’s shortcomings: lack of online multiplayer. I realize that the original released before online multiplayer was a common or even expected feature, but it’s disappointing to see it absent in this modern release. Local multiplayer is still an option, which is great – but the lack of online does feel like a bit of a missed opportunity here.

One pleasant discovery however, is just how good the balance of play is in Culdcept the First. You earn rewards at a pace that allows you to feel as though you can compete with your opponents (there is also a new option that allows you to get a bonus pack after a match, which allows you to cut down on some of the game’s grindy progression with some extra rewards this way. You don’t have to use these, but it’s a nice option for those who want to expedite things.

As your deck expands, so do your options. There's several ways to approach a space and use your monsters or abilities. If you claim a square, you can place a monster on it if there isn't one yet, or have monsters fight for ownership if the space is already occupied. There's various other spell types as well, that can deal damage to monsters directly or allow you to indirectly move about the board more quickly and easily as well. These kinds of options provide numerous strategies to choose from as your deck of cards expands.It’s really up to you how to approach your deck designs, though later in the game there are definitely some boards that feel designed to provide an advantage to certain approaches, and therefore reward experimentation.

Now, I’ve read about some stability issues for the Steam release of the game. While I didn’t encounter any of those with my Xbox version, I did run into some intermittent audio glitchiness from time to time. It was never too egregious – but it did happen now and again. This combined with the retro visuals will undoubtedly rub some people the wrong way, but it really didn’t sour my experience. It is worth noting that this is not a full-priced game, ringing in at roughly $30 in the US. That said, despite getting my Xbox copy for review for free, I am strongly considering picking up the more deluxe version on the PS5 just for the sake of it. I enjoy physical copies and special editions and something about this as a collector’s item just feels right to me. The game’s a lot of fun and while I don’t have personal nostalgia for this particular release, I did play the crap out of the Xbox 360 Culdcept Saga. I am the target audience, as the formula appeals to me regardless of which decade the game released.

For me, this is an easy game to recommend despite its age showing from the moment its booted up. Conceptually, the mechanics actually hold up quite well from nearly thirty years ago. Culdcept the First is a well-balanced, enjoyable game. As someone who has played a whole lot of deckbuilders and board games both digitally and in real life, this mix of genres as quite appealing to me. However, this is by no means a modern game and while it’s seen a handful of improvements to the quality of life, there are better examples of the genre mashup available in recent years.

Score: 7 / 10